On  love  of  coun 
Conf  Pam  12mo  #443 


ON  LOVE  OF  COUNTRY. 


AN  ADDRESS, 


D«LIViCRED    BBFORE   THE 


YOUNG    LADIES 


OF  THE  OLIO  SOCIETY 


ov 


OxtoKD  Fbmaui  CoLLKOi,  June  2nd,  186i^, 


Bt  Col.  D.  K   MoKAE 


RALEIGH; 

K^JC^aOflURIl  k   IIAACOft},  8TIAM  BOOK  AN9  JOB  PBllrTXSd. 

1864 


LOVE  OF  COUNTRY. 

An  Address y  delivered  before  the  Young  Ladies  of  the  Clio 
Society^  of  Oxford  Female  College,  by  Col.  D.  Ji.  McHab, 
June  2d,  1864. 

Young  TjAdies  : 

I  have  a  riile  so  well  established  of  not  undertaking  the 
delivery  of  Literary  Addresses,  that  I  wonder  to  find  my- 
self in  your  presence  to  day. 

How  I  came  to  deviate  from  this  settled  regulation  I 
canaot  well  explain — unless,  that  i  felt  constrained  under 
the  unusual  circumstances  which  surround  us  to  rnake  the 
contribution  wliich  you  ilesire,  to  the  entertainment  of  this 
occasion.  ^ 

I  know  no  topic  better  litted  for  me  to  speak  on,  and  you 
to  hear,  than  that  of  love.  Be  not  startled. — 1  am  not 
about  to  summon  you  to  a  #eatiae,nn  courtship  and  matri- 
mony— nor  yet  to  discuss  the  merits  or  enforce  the  claims 
of  filial  love — the  iirst  pure,  obedient^  reverential  love  of 
children  to  parents— with  its  attendant  duties  and  obliga- 
tions. My  object  is,  to  measure  in  its  strength  and  force 
another  broader  and  more  comprehensive  emotion — the 
love  of"  country  :^to  enkindle  in  your  every  breast  the 
sparks  of  patriotism — to  stir  its  ve&tal  fires  till  they 
burn  and  glow,  that  in  their  bright  refulgent  light  you 
may  bring  y'»ur  young  hearts  for  sacrifice,  and  on  their  liv- 
ing, leaping  flames  you  may  scatter  the  fragrant  incense 
of  a  fresh,  virgin  loyalty. 

The  lote  of  country  is  a  sacred  instinct  of  the  human 
heart.  No  seed  is  needed  to  produce  jt.  It  is  born  of  the 
Boul— spontaneous  aud  indit^vnous  ;  is  v'ntered  by  th^^  "'I's'i 
«;^  .- in'no'R  of  PF!3'-»'^»r-»i' )i)    ,.  luen- reasiUi  opes  he^  tu  vao 

rpc'\';aiti'^'^,<^'*s'n      .rnnn;^  oljtcts.     It  <^t^  '      .iud  expands 
wit'^  ndvai/oing     i.:teiiis^?nGe,    and    ii^  juh   and  b^^ars  f'-uit 
undci-  the  genial  i^ifluence  uf  ed:vatir,»i  and  tuition  in  -hose 
schools  where  philosophy  and  morality  a?c  Ihe  t'  •      .  .;. 

The  first  faint  spj,rk  of  this  insticilve  virtU"  ^'"  thecinid's 

i0¥e  o'"  home — of  fhnt  narrow  sp;.ce,  where,  limited  withla 

rest  confines,   the  liiilo  creature   makes  her  v/oild — 

.P33897 


her  toy-world  of  wonders — which  nought  that  she  ever 
after  finds  in  the  great,  sjacious,  varying  real  world  shall 
ever  come  to  e^ual.  Her  bahy-house  for  dolls,  scarce  big- 
ger than  her  head,  with  its  tiny  pretences  of  doors  and  win- 
dows and  chimneys  and  grates  and  closets  and  mantles  and 
parlors  ;  and  her  misses'  chamber  with  its  wardrobe  and 
paraphranalia, — within  this  domain,  this  little  domain  of 
fancy,  meagre  and  restricted  to  us,  but  broad,  far  stretch- 
ed, continental,  almost  illimitable  to  her,  lies  her  country  : 
and  to  that  country  with  all  her  imagination  and  all  her 
soul,  she  entrusts  her  firl^t  young  germ  t>f  patriotism. 

In  youth,  ere  yet  the  mind  doth  contemplate  the  exigen- 
cies and  the  cares  of  life,  when  hope  is  fresh  and  fair — in 
the  early  dawn,  when  the  dew  still  lingers  on  the  blossom 
and  bespangles  it  like  a  jewel,  and  never  hoar-frost  has 
touched  with  withering  lips  its  beauteous  bright  flower-^in 
springy  morning,  while  the  sun  shines  splendid  in  the 
heavens  all  perfect  in  their  azure  blue,  and  not  as  yet  a 
speck  of  cloud  hath  crossed  his  glorious  disc,  still  less  hath 
lightning's  flash  or  angry  thunders  threatened  storm — in 
these  festive  hours  of  gay  and  thoughtlesi  and  untroubled 
youth,  the  eager,  expectant  Ijjpeful  heart  leaps  to  its  de- 
light amid  the  sports  and  pastnnes  in  its  grasp,  and  wheth- 
er fishing  in  the  brook,  or  hunting  on  the  hill,  or  plodding 
at  the  school,  or  rambling  in  the  holiday,  it  day  by  day 
imbibes  from  every  object  dnd  ever^  local  association,. a« 
from  a  perennial  spring,  deep  draughts  of  patriotism. 

I  venture  that  there  is  not  an  eminence  from  which  you 
have  watched  the  sinking  sunset's  varied  glow — not  a  re- 
cess of  the  vale  where  you  have  sought  the  shade — not  a 
solitude  in  the  w:ood8  where  you  have  seen  the  wild  hare 
make  its  burrow  from  the  chase — not  a  crevice  in  the  rock^ 
where  you  have  lingered  to  catch  the  murmur  of  the 
»ea,  from  which  you  have  not  garnered  up  associations 
that  will  lire  and  keep  companionship  with  your  existence^ 
making  for  you  memories  of  delight  again  fit  the  tedious 
and  wearisome  hours  when  you  shall  take  the  world's  bu- 
siness in  hand,  to  grapple  with  and  overcome. , 

Thus  as  it  were,  contifruous  to  the  shores  of  life,  between 
the  beach  and  whjere  'he  breakers  catch  the  curling  billow* 
and  mark  the  boundary  Mne  between  the  shallows  and  the 
depths  profound,  out  o.'  the  ioam  of  young  associations 
comes  forth  the  shape  of  patriotism,  beautiful  as  Undine 
from  the  crystal  fountain,  or  as  Venus  the  ^jJoddess  of 


beauty,  the  Mother  of  Lovg,  the  queen  of  pleasure  and 
mistress  of  the  graces  when  wafted  hy  the  Zephyrs  iVom  the 
froth  of  the  sea  into  the  arms  of  the  Seasons,  the  daughters 
of  Jupiter.  ^ 

The  savage,  as  the  civilized  man,  loves  h.is  country  ;  his 
untutored, heart  throbs  responsive  to  its  calls,  and  whether 
he  dwell  in  the  regions  of  Lapland  and  I^orwegia — where 
the  long — long  nights  prevail  an  1  only  snow  and  ice  keep 
outdoor  commerce  witli  the  wind  and  storm — or  if  he  tread 
the  parched  and  arid  wastes  of  ArahiR,  and  Sahara,  his 
nature  habituates  his  affections  to  the  sp  >t  of  hia. birth  and 
the  plant  of  patriotism  roots  and  grows,  howsoever  sterile 
may  be  the  soil  or  ungcnial  the  clime. 

Nothing  is  moro  mournful  in  history— nothing  more 
tender  in  poetry^-nothing  more  touching  in  legend  and 
story,  than  the  sad  repining  of  the  desolate  Indian,  when 
the  glen  where  his  war  songs  were  echoed — the  forest 
where  his  war  councils  were  held  and  the  wigv/ams  where 
his  war-spoils  were  gathered,  were  wrested  from  his  pos- 
session, and  in  silence  but  in  agony  he  bade  adieu  to  the 
hunting  grounds  of  his  people  and  the  rude  graves  of  his 
fathers, 

Campbell  has  faithfully  delineated  this  sentiment  in  his 
pathetic  ballad  of  the  Exile  of  Erin  : 

"  Sad  is  my  f.Ue,  said  tne  liearN^  r  k-n  stranger, 
The  wil(i  di'ti-  and  wolf  to  a  coVt;rt  (Mn  Hee, 
But  I  have  no  rclnge-fr'^rn  famine  and  d^n^fer, 
A  hnrvie  and  a  cou'Ury  uroain  not  t,':>  me. 
N<^vor  ao^n  in  the  <!rren  sunny  brwors, 
"\X"F»('rn  my  forerathi-is  live!,  shall  I  spend  tho  sweet  houra, 
Or  covor  niv  harp  with  (be  wi!<l  wov(;n  fl  twerH, 
'  And  strike  t()  th<!  uumhers  of  Erin  gi  Fiagh  " 

The  love  of  family,  parents,  brethren  and  kin  creates 
mutual  sympathy  and  impels  to  mutual  protection  and  de- 
fence, and  the  natural  stilfishness  of  our  nature  relaxes  to 
the  just  claim"  of  consanguinity;  but  the  lov(3  of  country 
rises  above  the  ordinary  affjctions  of  man  Tor  his  fellow, 
subdues  and  directs  the^e  lower  emotions,  and  prompts  to 
more  elevated  inspirations  ajnd  loftier  fK-lf- sacrifices. 
*  Mingling  as  it  does  in  one  'common  clement,  the  love  pf 
kin,  love  of  home  and  ihe  desirf  of  a  pdsfJtumous^  fame 
among  posterity,  as  it  is  the  notdest  of  human  passions,  so 
it  is  the  most  powerful,  for  it  embraces  all  others  and  is 
nourished  1)Y  nil.      ^^  -.  ^  ^  ^  m« 

P33897 


If  history  be  searclted  for  transcendent  deeds  of  daring, 
severe  tests  of  endurance,  threatening  erxposures  to  peril 
and  cruel  sacrifices  to  destruction,  j)atriotism  will  be  found 
to  originate  them — the  love  of  country  bears  them  to  com- 
pletion. 

It  was  this  noble  sentiment  that  animated  the  beautiful 
w^ow  of  Manassas  and  gave  her  strength  to  go  into  the 
camp  of  the  Assyrian,  in  the  Valley  of  Berthulia,  wliich 
imbued  her  with  the  courage  to  deck  herself  in  costly  and 
splendid  apparel  to  appear  at  the  feast  of  Holofernes  and 
which  ne^'ved  her  w;th  the  dauntless  determination  to 
enterprise  the  destruction  of  her  nation's  foe  when  sur- 
rounded by  his  guards  in  the  midst  of  his  tent. 

Guido  Reni,  whose  touches  of  nature  are  in  its  .softest 
colors^  has  made  an  immortal  representation  of  tlie  beau- 
tiful Judith,  the  widow  of  Judea,  who  smote  with  t'lo  axe 
the  head  of  the  Captain  of  the  host  of  Assur  and  'saved  her 
people  frora  captivity. 

All  of  you  are  familiar  with  the  s  d  but  romantic  narra- 
tive of  the  Maid  of  Domeremy,  she  who  Avas  born  a  poor 
.peasiint  girl  of  liumble  lot  and  family  in  upper  Lorraine, 
on  the  slopes  of  the  Vosges,  near  the  town  of  Yancoulaurs, 
who  heard  the  blessed  call  to  her  glorious  mission  fiom  the 
celestial  voices  beneath  tlje  fairy  tree  at  the  medicinal  fount 
near  the  ''  Chateau  des  Isles,"  who,  moved  by  the  mystic 
faith  in  the  heavenly  summ.ons,  came  to  tlie  relief  of  the 
Dau])hiu  Charles  the  seventh,  in  his  extremity,  who,  clad 
in  warrior's  panoply  and  leading  the  armed  hosts,  raised 
^for  him  the  seige  of  his  beleagured  city  of  Orleans,  then 
crowned  his  royal  head .  in  his  Cathedral  of  Rheim  and 
gave  to  France,  over  all  her  enemies,  her  rightful  King  ; 
she  who,  after  lier  heroic  achivements,  fell  at  Compeigne 
into  the  hands  of  the  English  and  filled  the  measure  of 
patriotic  devotion  by  perishing  a  blessed  martyr  in  the 
flames  of  persecution,  in  the  city  of  Rouen. 

In  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  positions  near  the  Champs 
Elysees,  the  courtly  thorougufaj-e  of  Paris,  on  a  pedestal  of 
finished  execution,  stands  a  lovely  figure  cut  out  of  Parian 
marble  by  a  master  hand,  to  represent  the  form  and  fea- 
tures, to  perpetuate  the  virtues  and  to  attract' the  pi^})ular 
homage  to  the  memory  of  the  Maid  of  Orleans,  Joan  of 
Arc.   ' 

History  abounds  with  instances  of  heroic  devotion  to 
country  and  sacrifices  of  self,  and    its  dramatic  records  as- 


1 

sign  to  woman  the  chiefest  parts,  and  justly  so,  for  being 
by  nature  more  tender  and  sensitive  than. man,  more  im- 
bued with  pity  and  eothusiasm,  she  clings  with  a  tenacity 
closer  than  he  to  the  delightful  idealities  of  home  and 
country  and  yields  to  thorn  the  rich  attributes  of  her  imag- 
inations radiant,  and  the  uustinted  wealth  of  her  soul. 

Zenobia,  Clelia,  Lucretia,  V  ittoria  Colonna,  Charl  otte 
Corday  and  that  iucom parable  leader  of  the  G-ironde,  the 
idol  of  Vergniaud  andi  the  companion  in  death  of  Brissot 
and  Bp^rbaroux  and  Louvet ; — she  who  addressed  to  Kobe«- 
pierre,  tlien  in  the  zeuith  of  his  power,  from  the  gloom  of 
her  dungeon  in  the  conciergerie  this  noble  emanation  of  , 
conscious  virtue,  ^'  and  you,  you  cannot  deny  that  none 
who  hatli  ever  known  me  can  persecute  me  without  a  feel- 
ing of  reiiiorse,  "  the  ai  ^^^r  before  the  scaffold  of  the  su- 
blime apostropiic,  '^  (jh  1  Liberty,  Liberty,  how  many 
crimes  are  committed  ii  thy  name" — the  lovely,  gifted, 
Madame  Ro-aiid,  are  types  of  these  heroic  virtues. 

Kast  and  West— Trom  tlie  lofty  central  point  of  the  St. 
Gothard,  extend  the  Alps,  in  the  form  of  a  mighty  crescent 
embracing  the  north  of  Italy  and  on  every  side  environed 
by  tremedous  cliffs  and  caverns,  which  ensnare  the  incau- 
tious traveller  with  a  veil  of  greyish  snow. 

Here  is  the  horrid  birth-place  of  the  glacier  and  the  ava- 
lanche, liere  alsd  are  the  dens  of  the  bear  and  the  ure  ox, 
and  through  these  wild  fastnesses  are  re-echoed  witli 
frightful  accord  the  screams  of  the  Lammergeyer.  Here 
on  these  dizzy  heights  the  battles  of  the  storms  are  fought — 
the  vivid  lightnings  cross  .bayonets  in  their  charges  from 
peak  to  peak,  and  the  live  thunders  entrenched  among  the 
crags  hurl  their  bolts  in  combat  hand  to  hand.  Here  are 
the  sublimest  castings  of  nature  in  her  roughest -but  grand- 
est moulds.  The  iu'st  populations  of  this  ruggfed  land 
which  are  known  to  tradition,  was  a  race  of  Gallic  Celts, 
who  wandered  from  the  Rhine  and  the  Maine  to  the  lake 
of  Geneva,  and  thence  along  the  vale  of  Chamounix  to  the 
Splugen  Alps.  They  were  a  stout  and  hardy  people,  and 
they  originated  what  was  afterwards  known  as  Helvetia 
from  its  ancient  inhabitants,  and  as  Sivitzerland  from  the 
canton  of  Schwytz,  which  was  the  cradle  of  its  independ- 
ence. 

In  no  country  of  the  world  has  nature  painted  so  diver- 
sified a  panorama  ;  for  all  is  not  uncouth  as  that  I  have 
described.     In  Switzerland   every   extreme  meets.     These 


8 

eternal  Alphine  snows  are  fringed  with  green  and  luxuri- 
ant pastures,  and  yon  enormous  ice-bergs  rise  above  valleys 
aromatic  with  the  sweets  of  flowers — and  the  everlasting 
Winter,  with  its  bald  head  of  snow,  stands  hand  in  hand 
with  Summer,  crowned  '^vith  her  golden  shocks.  It  is  a 
beautiful  scene  to  watch  from  the  lakeLeman,  whose  clear, 
pelucid  waters  give  birth  to  the  '^swift-rushing  arrowy 
Rhone,  ''  th^  dazzling  peaks  of  Mont  Blanc,  white,  in  the 
first  light  of  the  morning— colored  like  a  rose  at  mid-day — 
and  softened  into  a  beautiful  violet  as  evening  declines  and 
twilight  comes  apace,  according  as  the  reflection  ol  the 
Bun*s  rays  cast  new  and  varying  tints  on  their  sheets  of 
eternal  snow. 

The  men  of  these  mountain  regions  who  dwell  in  the 
fertile  valleys  which  are  hollowed  out  in  their  flanks,  are 
vigorous  and  strong  ;  of  tall  and  athletic  frame  ;  of  simple 
and  uncultivated  manners  and  character,  but  erect,  majes- 
tic and  courageous.  The  women  are  light  and  active  ; 
their  shoulder.^  and  arms,  which  they  are  accustomed  to 
bare,  are  supple  and  graceful  and  their  limbs  lithe  and 
elastic.  Tiiey  have  generally  auburn  hair,  blue  eyes, 
lieaKhy  complexions,  oval  cheeks,  curled  lips  and  voices 
sonoroi^i  ancl  tender.  In  the  language  of  a  beautiful  au- 
thor, they  ••  resemble  Grecian  statuqs  placed  on  a  pedestal 
of  snow  aud  animated  by  the  fresh  shivering  air  of  the 
J  loraing.  The  dress  of  the  Swiss  maiden  is  simple  and 
cha':,ve  L.3^  her  person.  Though  Geneva  is  famed  for  its 
stores  of  jewelry,  its  precious  stones  set  with  artistic  skill  in 
s'd.ie  viT^.luc,  the  women  of  the  land  wear  few  ornaments,  their 
long  hair  iloatsluxjiiriant  over  the  neck ;  they  wear  board  hats 
Tclt 'jr.  straw,  with  heat  and  tasteful  ribbands,  a  narrow 
jbodice  of  wool  restrains  the  waist,  snowy  white  linen 
plaited  in  a  thousand  folds  covers  the  chest  and  a  short  pet- 
ticoat, scarce  reaching  to  the  ankle,  completes  the  pictur- 
esque outfit  of  the  peasant  girl  of  Switzerland.  They  are 
a  race  of  peasants  and  never  forget  this  national  idiosyn- 
cracy,  however  they  depart  in  business  from  their  primitive 
occupations. 

These  groups  of  mountains  were  for  a  long  time  held 
under  the  rule  and  dominion  of  Austrian  nobles.  Counts  of 
Hapsburg,  and  others,  who  rivaled  each  other  in  the  severe 
and  despotic  sway  they  exercised  in  their  government. 
Their  acts  of  tyranny  were  exceedingly  galling  to  the  spirit 
of  the  hardy  Swiss,  which  broke  into  a  rude  revolt  on  the 


occasion  of  an  outrage  upon  the  wife  of  a  respected. 
Then  came  the  famous,  or  infamous  Gessler  ;  the  erection 
of  his  celebrated  pole  ,  the  arrest  of  William  Tell  the  cruel 
gentence  which  compelled  him  to  five  at  an  apple  on  the 
Lead  of  his  own  boy  ;  the  trial  of  skill  ;  the  succors  of  the 
archer  ;  the  imprisonment  of  the  father  in  breach  of  faith  ; 
the  boat  sail  of  Gessler  ;  the  storm  on  the  lake  ;  the  escape 
of  Tell  and  the  death  of  the  tyrant.  These  events  preced- 
ed the  17th  day  of  November,  lo"7.  On  the  night  of  that 
day,  thirty  Confederates,  led  by  William  Tell,  with  a  few 
of  the  patriotic  women,  met  on  the  small  ])ioniontory  of 
Grutli,  where  the  stormy  waves  of  the  lake  of  the  four 
Cantons  on  the  one  side,  the  peaks  and  glaciers  on  the 
other,  and  the  thick  Germanic  forest  on  the  third,  protect- 
ed and  concealed  them.  And  there  in  the  solemn  stillness 
of  the  night,  amid  these  surroundings,  did  these  heroic 
freemen  swear  this  memorable  bath  :  ''We  swear  in  the 
presence  of  Almighty  God,  before  whom  Kings  and  people 
are  equal,  to  live  or  die  for  our  fallen  countrymen,  neither 
to  suffer  injustice  nor  commit  tyranny;  to  respect  the 
rights  and  property  of  the  Counts  of  Hapsburg  ;  to  do  no 
violence  to  the  imperial  baliffs,  hue  to  put  an  end  to  their 
tyranny." 

^  On  the  first  of  January,  1308,  they  put  this  noble  re- 
solve into  execution.  Admitted  by  the  aid  of  a  young  girl, 
the  patriots  obtained  possession  of  a  fortress  in  the  moun- 
tains, the  base  of  their  future  operations.  For  s(?ven  years 
they  waged  an  unequal  war  and  maintained  their  inde- 
pendence. They  established  then  a  Confederate,  republi-* 
pan  government,  and  from  that  day  to  this,  now  more  than 
five  hundred  years  past  and  gone,  amid  all  the  revolutions 
of  Europe,  they  have  preserved  their  freedom  unimpaired, 
and  now  to-day  on  theunconquered  summits  of  Mont  Blanc 
and  the  Rhigi ;  on  the  heights  of  the  St.  Gothard  and  the 
Splugen,  and  in  the  sweet,'  pleasaut,  smiling  vales  of 
Chamouni  and  Lucerne,  a  simple  people,  happy  and  con- 
tent, blessed  with  comfort  and  free  and  independent,  sing 
songs  and  tell  stories  of  the  fame  and  valor  of  the  patriot 
Tell  and  his  glorious  associates,  who  bequeathed  to  them 
tbe  blessings  of  Liberty.  .    . 

But  as  abundant  as  are  the  records  of  history  of  patriotic 
example,  plenteous  as  is  tradition  of  its  deeds  of  chivalry, 
full  teeming  as  is  the  poet's  verse  and  the  minstrers  song  of 
heroic  achievment,  v^hat  tongue   can  now  utter  in  proper 


10 

phrase,  what  imaginatioa  depict  "in  appropriate  terms  the 
true  merits  of  Patriotism  as  they  exist  in  these  our  days,  in 
this  our  country  ? 

We  had  once,  Young  Ladies,  another  country  and  an- 
other government. ,  It  was  a  grand,  capacious,  magnifioent 
country  ;  it  was  a  strong,  powerful,  invincihlc  government. 
The  people  of  that  nation  strode  with  a  mighty  progress 
from  infancy  to  be  giants,  and  the  government,  embraced 
in  a  national  and  Federal  union  of  thirty  odd  independent 
sovereignties,  defied  the  world's  hostility,  •  ptovoked  the 
world's  envy  and  attracted-  the  wondering  admiration 
of  mankind.  Like  some  grand,  colossal  edifice  of  solid 
granite,  it  seemed  perfect  in  architectural  development  as 
it?  vast  dome  swelled  to  the  heavens  and  gatheved  within 
its  spacious  halls  the  teeming  and  increasing  populations. 
But  in  the  mysteries  of  nature  tliere  3,eems  tobe.ever  a  limit 
set  to  human  grandeur  and  human  power.  Within  this 
gigantic  frame,  in  ap]  ircnt  health  and  ripening  vi'gor,  there 
were  the  seeds  of  iks  own  dissolution.  Besides  evil  men 
who  sought  and  conspired  for  its  destruction^  there  were 
natural,  inate,  uneradicable  causes  of  decay  and  mortality 
which  art  could  not  remove  nor  human  skill  mitigate.  It 
took  long  years  to  accomplish  the  sad  but  inevitable  des- 
tiny. The.  yearning  heart  of  loyal  devotion,  forbearing 
and  indulgent,  clung  with  tenacity  to  the  government 
which  our  fathers  had  hewn  out  of  the  rock  of  affliction, 
and  not  until  wrong  heaped  on  wrong,  aggression  on  ag.- 
gression  b6came  insupportable  and  intolerable  ;  not  until 
disgrace  and  slavery  stared  our  people  in  the  face,  did  they 
yield  to  the  necessity  of  separation^  and  a  final  severance 'of 
the  bonds  of  association.  The  spiritual  and  ecclesiastical' 
chords,  the  most  exquisitely  tender  of  all,  first  felt  the  ex- 
plosive force  of  destructive  antagonism  and  snapped  assun- 
der.  The  powerful,  and  by  God's  blessing,  the  eminently 
useful  and.  in  all  good  w'orks.  Catholic  body,  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  lost  its  unity  and  attachment  and  array- 
ed itself  into  two  hostile  bodies,  the  South  being  the  injur- 
ed and  aggrieved.  The  Presbyterian  and  Baptist  Church- 
es divided.  The  rest  was  but  the  work  of  time, 
and  the  political  and  social  disruption  was  a  legitimate 
and  necessary  sequent  of  a  spiritual  breach  that  had  be- 
come irreparable. 

Yet  it  was  a  goldes  chain  which  bound  the  sovereignties 
of  the  States  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  Union  ;  its  links  had 
been  moulded  out  of  ancifent   association,  cherished  memo- 


11 

rics,  fond  affections  and  histori6  actions  riveted  by  actual 
benefits,  farther  promises  acd  yet  more  distant  anticipa- 
tions. Naught  could  have  ixiolted  so  v3iiduring  a  material 
but  an  intense  fire  of  persecution.  Fanaticism  lighted  the 
coals  and  its  untiring  arm  ".iii:.e'd  them  to  a  flame  until 
they  burned  into  a  cons'^.'aing,  destroying  blaze.  The 
chain  melted  in  the  fervonfc  heat  and  not  a  link  remains  of 
the  once  beautiful  golden  girdle.  ]\or  is  there  in  the  sub- 
tlist  ingredient  in  alchemy  ;  nor  in  the  depths  of  the  ear.th''s 
bowels  a  mattrial  for  .its  reconstruction. 

When  the  separation  occurred  it  was  not  effected  by  a 
Tudo  and  riotous  rebellion.  It  was  conducted  under  the 
authority  of  State  sovereignty,  in  accordance  vritl;  the  long 
reC(tjL'"ulzed  principles  ^'  that  when  a  form  of  government 
becomes  deslructive  of  il^  t.ids^  «t  is  the  right  of  tlie  peo- 
ple to  alter  and  abolish  it'and  to  substitute  a  n6w  govern- 
ment, deriving  its  jus'  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  g*)V- 
erned.  '  By 'virtuo  ;)f  these  p;iiiciples  we  had  a  riglit  to 
expect  the  privilege  of  departing  in  peace  to  our  own  ways 
to  work  out  unmolested  our  own  destiny. 

But  such  was  uot  the  intention  of  the  wrong-doer  ;  his 
purpr^e  was  to  force  Upon  our  necks  an  imposed  govern- 
ment, to  coerce  an  allegiance  that  was  no  longer  volun- 
teered, and  ■  to  exercise  an  authority  inadmissible  and 
usurped.  To  accomplish  this  h€f  waged  war  upon  us,  he 
sen.  his  fleets  and  armies  to  occupy  our  seaports  and  com- 
mand our  habors  ;  he  shut  the  door  of  nations  in  our  face, 
seized  upon  the  eminent  domain,  which  is  the  na- 
tional property,  and  directed  upon  our  unoffending  people 
the  muzzles  of  his  murderous  artillery.  This  wanton  con- 
sumation  of  enormous  wrong  and  unmitigated  outrage  in- 
flamed to  fury  the  pride  and  dignity  of  the  land  ;  the  youth, 
of  Charleston,  glorious,  immortal,' unconquerable  Charles- 
ton, whose  very  ashes  now  bid  defiance  to  her  assailants, 
ca'^ght  the  enthusiasm,  and  the  Cadets  of  Charleston,  find- 
ing a  Federal  craft  prowling  in  the  waters  of  her  tranquil 
Bay,  lighted  the  match  and  sped  the  first  solid  shot  for  the 
preservation  of  our  liberties. 

For  now  three  years  and  more,  <var  has  raged  through- 
out the  land,  its  fierce  havoc  has  been  felt  in  every  house, 
by  every  fireside.  The  efforts  of  our  enemies  have  been 
gigantic  and  persistent.  Every  base  passion  they  appeal- 
ed to,  every  cunning  art  and  stratagem  applied  for  our 
subjugation  and  destruction.  Finding  the  real  Yankee  un- 
willing to  face  the  dangers  of  the  field  they  have  miscege- 


12  •        . 

Hated  the  negro  to  the  ranks,  and  Massachusetts  gold  is  iu 
the  markets  of  the  world  to  buy  assassins  and  mercena- 
ries to  accomplish  our  overthrow.  '  . 

'But  the  Mighty  God  hath  been  our  helper  and  defender 
and  under  his  all  powerful  care  have  we  maintained  our 
defence.  Our  people  have  come  from  all  dei)artment8  of 
business  and  every  avenue  of  life,  to  confront  want  and  ex- 
posure and  privation  "and  disease  and  peril  and  death. 
4^nd  as  brave  a,  band  (Tf  heroes,  as  noble  an.  army  of  mar- 
tyrs as  the  world  ever  gazed  on,  have  stood  and  still  stand 
a  living  wall  of  fire  between  our  ruthless  invaders  and  the 
homes  of  our  people  and  the  government  of  their  choice. 

The  world  hath  never  conceived,  history  hath  never  re- 
corded examples   of  patriotism   more   illustrious  than  the 
Buhordinate  olncer;s  and  private  soldiers  of  the  Confederacy 
have  funiisljtd  to   the   cause  of  independence.     And  well 
thor  might,  for  as  the  war  was  right  in  fche  origin  because 
commenced  for   the   maintenance  of  social   and   political 
equality,  so  has  iis  s^iccessful   prosecution  become  necessa- 
ry bocaiu^e  now  ij^raver,  more  momentous,  more  vital  ques- 
ti'^ns  are  involvitd  in  the   issue.     Advancing  step   by  step 
t(.7/ards  I  't'^  real  but  originally   disg'uised  object  of  the  in- 
VMGivii/tl -J  I''ederal  government  has  put  under  its  foot  every 
d.  a? 'V    "^  nianifostation  gf  oj^positiou  among  Its  own  peo- 
r"-,  /     '    '  ''^<'v-v  hardy  enongh  and   powerful  enough  in  its 
^  declare  its  purpose  to  confiscate  our  property, 
ij'.';V.r  oiate  go.arnments   and  subjugate   our  people 
-iO  ^'^yz  i,a.sl>o.;n   raised^  save   by  a  weak  and  power- 
1  .         ;  ^.1' J ly.  that  utters   any  other   language  or  inspires 
^    .     ••(>  th  it  the  issue  is  reduced  to  victory  and  in- 
•xC^.  iidence  on  the  one   hand,   or  death  or   slavery  en  the 
otner. 

When  these  iss' ncs  have  -ever  been  presented  to  brave 
men  ar-d  coujager. rs women, they  hiive  never  failed  to  draw 
fortfb  the  mlgh':y' resources  of  determined  and  indomitable 
nature  ;  and  no  instance  stands  recorded  in  the  history  of 
the  civilized  world  where  a  people  struggling  for  freedom 
in  a  rigliteous  war  have  ^ver  been  subdued  by  another  na- 
tion fighting  to  overthrow  them.  Switzerland  against 
Austria,  Prussia  against  the  Allies,  the  Netherlands 
against  rhirope,  the  thirteen  colonies  against  Great  Brit- 
ain, are  historic  witnesses  of  the  capabilities  of  a  people^ 
upheld  by  right,  to  resist   superiority  of  numbers  and  rer 


13  • 

•ources  when  used  for  the  perpetration  of  wrong  and  impo- 
sition of  despotism  upon  civilized  nationalities. 

This  memorable  contest  of  ours,  now  waged  on  the 
grandest  and  most  terrific  scale  that  mankind  hath  ever 
beheld,  bears  coiroborating  testimony  to  this  historic  truth. 
We  have  confronted  with  a  success  far  outstripping  in 
point  of  decisiveness  the  successes  which  brought  final 
triumph  to  the  combatants  whose  cases  I  have  cited.  And 
now_,  advanced  into  the  fourth  year  of  the  strife,  we  present 
an  array  of  more  indepen(]ent  resource,  more  recovery  of 
lost  advantages,  more  strt^ngth  of  discipline,  more  fixed 
determination  and  more '}»ositive,  actual,  decided  victory 
than  at  any  period  '  since  the  8trug>;le  began.  Texas^,  Ar- 
kansas and  Louisania  hav(  been  almost  entirely  relieved  ; 
much  of  our  hiastern  District  -  ecovered  ;  Florida  saved 
and  Charleston  standing  uadaunted  and  defiant  and  old 
Sumter  knock-ec^  into  a  iieap  of  ruins,  but  ruins  more 
■formidable  and  more  invincible  than  when  sIjc  stood  in  her 
pride  of  place  the  guardian  of  the  gate,  when  Beauregard, 
the' peerless  genius  of  the  war^  first  hurled  against  her  em- 
battlements  the  iron  mesFicngers  of  the.  popular  indigna- 
tion. And,  now,  when  with  concentrated  effort  they  rush 
in  overwhelming  numbers  on  beleagured  Richmond,  the 
same  Beauregard  on  the  one  side  and  that  incomparable, 
wise,,  able,  glorious  Captwin  Robert  E.  Lee,  on  the  other, 
with  their  heroic  troops  have  hurled  back  their  assaults 
amid  havoc,  confusion  and  slaughter,  that  has  made  the 
drunken  giant  reel  and  stagger  like  an  ox  beneath  the 
blows  of  the  butcher. 

Out  of  this  successful  resistance,  from  these  repeated  vic- 
tories we  are  at  liberty  to  draw,  we  cannot  help  drawing 
the  assurance  of  final  triumph.  I  not  only  hope  for  it, 
but  1  look  for  the  success  of  our  arms,  the  achievement  of 
our  independence,  the  freedom  of  my  country  with  as 
earliest  a  confivience  as  the  christian  believer  looks  foi>  the 
falfilm  oni  of  the  promiaes  that  the  Lord,  the  Kighteoui 
JTudge,  hfta  given  to  hir  children. 

Not  long  in  the  fntnre  Young  Ladies,  is  the  blessed 
day  ""^hen  thesv^  hard  trials  will  and — when  the  bitter 
mauming  will  cease,  when  the  tear-streaming  eyes  will  be 
dried  and  the  wounded  hearts  healed — when  the  sterm 
alarums  of  war  will  be  changed  to  the  meiry  greetings  of 
peace. 


14 

The  dawn  of  that  day  is  breaking,  when  our  soldiers 
from  the  field  will  return  to  their  homes  ;  rough  and. 
weather-beaten  will  they  come,  tattered  and  torn  by  ex- 
posure in  the  battle  and  on  the  watch — rude  of  speech  and 
unused  for  a  while  to  the  <;ourtly  elegance  of  peaceful, 
social  life.  But  they  will  come  with  heads  erect  and  steps 
precise  and  measured — with  martial  tread,  time-keeping 
to  the  music  of  the  spirit-stirring  drum  and  the  ear-pierc- 
ing fife  and  the  trumpet's  pealing  note.  And  the  glorious 
sitnshine  of  cloudlef5s  skies  shall  hallow  their  march,  and 
all  along  their  path,  the  purest,  and  most  virtuous  "and 
most  beautiful  maidens  of  the  land  shall  strew  flowers  of 
brightest  colors  and  sweetest  fragrance  ;  and  aged  fathers 
shall  lay  ^mternal  blessing— their  hlessing  and  God's — on 
their  brave  hero  boys  ;  and  loving  mothers  shall  clasp  in 
holy  embrace  the  sons  of  their  heart  ;  and  sisters  shall 
spring  to  fondle  on  the  neck  of  brothers»^and  wives  their 
husbands  n^cet  in  indescribable  rapture  ;  and  all  the  bells 
shall  chant  a  iiielody,  and  harmless  artillery  unladen  jvith 
the  deadly  missile  shall  roar  for  joy,  and  multitudes  of 
peo]  le,  young  and  old,  men  and  women,  boys  and  girls, 
shrli  rend  the  air  with  acclamations  of  honor,  praise  and 
gratitude  to  tliose  our  deliverers  ;  and  this  will  be  the 
nation's  ju' dice  ;  and  to  God,  the  mighty  Lord,  the  giver 
of  this  good,  in  solemn  awful  strain  will  be  rendered  fit- 
ting homage  foi  the  glory  of  our  redemption. 

And  to  the  patriots  who  have  perished  will  the  nation 
pay  becoming  tribute.  Enduring  monuments,  with  ima- 
ges of  appropriate  c.ast,  wrought  out  with  most  artistic  skill, 
will  be  built  towards  the.  sky,  and  on  their  sides  heroic 
names  will  be  inscribed  with  truthful  epitaphs  ;  and  after 
you  and  I  fire  past  away  and  gone,  generations  yet  to 
come,  far  down  the  aisles," beneath  the  fretted  dome  in  the 
grand  temple  of  time^  in  future  ages,"  will  come  out  of  the 
sacked  chapels  with  reverential  awe  to  admire  the  virtue, 
approve  the  valor  and  huiior  the  memories'  'bf  the  ^■klla^nt 
dead,  who  died  for  freedom  in  this  revob'ti'^".  W>nn  it 
B>inl1  please  Divine  Pr-'^vn'^eBce  to  '..csiow  iliw  dcsiraK>ie 
h»'     *  '  ,  be  it  then  our  universal  duty  to  devote 

our  .iiiUds  {•.  .  .energies  to  the  establishment  6f  good  gov- 
ernratnt ;  where  art  and  sci'^nc^.  educiti^Ti,  charity,  pub- 
lic and  private,  And  true  fjoc-^'>ii  may  prevail.  And  to- 
wards thi^  '^urpose,  sc  'beneficent  for   the   human  race,  do 


15 

you  J  Young  Ladies,  direct  your  aspirations — that  you  may 
go  cultivate  your  gifts  and  improve  your  advantages,  that 
you  may  bring  all  the  enaobling  influence  of  woman  in 
her  true  dignity,  to  the  great  work  of  advancing  the 
standard  of  human  excellence  and  the  promotion  of  social 
iinprove,  lent 


Hollinger  Corp. 
pH8.5 


